Means for applying covering material



Oct. 6, 1936, H MP I 2,056,450

MEANS FOR APPLYING COVERING MATERIAL Filed Jan. 10, 1936 ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 6, 1936 UNITED STATES MEANS FOR APPLYING COVERING MATERIAL Alfred H. Haberstump, Detroit, Mich., assignor to The Murray Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application January 10, 1936, Serial No. 58,603

8 Claims.

My invention relates to pasting machines, and particularly to a machine and method for stretching a sheet of trim material over the surface of an element and deflecting the edges of the sheet when so stretched against an adhesive material provided on the under-side of the element.

The present problem relates to a machine and method for applying a trim material, such as cloth, fabric composition, leather or the like, to a backing panel to be employed for trimming an element, such as a door of an automotive vehicle. The backing panel may be made from cardboard to which fibers or similar padding material has been applied, and over which the trim material is stretched toform a finished, padded surface. After the material is stretched across the padding on the cardboard, the projecting edges are drawn downwardly and secured to the under-side of the edges of the cardboard by an adhesive material provided on the under-side of the edges of the material or cardboard or both.

Heretofore, a pad of cotton, hemp, or like ma terial was placed on one face of the cardboard and the trim material was placed over the pad with the edges extended beyond the edges of the cardboard. An adhesive material was sprayed over the under surface of the edge of the material and cardboard, and the material was manually stretched and drawn over the edges of the cardboard and secured to its under-side.

The present invention contemplates a method and means for producing the stretching of the material, the drawing of the material over the edges of the cardboard and the securing of the drawn edges to the under-side of the cardboard. For effecting this operation, a set of brushes is employed which are driven in the same direction. As the panel or cardboard, with the material disposed on its top surface, is advanced through the brushes, the first brush stretches the material, a second brush deflects the material downwardly over the edge of the panel, while a third brush wipes the material over the adhesivecoated under surface of the panel. It is only necessary, therefore, to push the cardboard through the brushes to have the material stretched, deflected over the edge and wiped across the under surface of the panel.

Accordingly, the main objects of my invention are: to provide means for stretching a trim material over a surface of a panel,. deflecting the extending edges of the material downwardly and adhesively securing the deflected material to the under surface of the panel; to provide a plurality of brushes in offset, spaced relation for stretching a trim material over a panel, thereafter deflecting the edges of the material over the edges of the panel, and thereafter brushing the deflected material against the under surface of the panel; to mount a plurality of brushes in a head which is freely movable relative to a platform to cause the head to adjust itself relative to a panel which is advanced into the brushes due to the operation of the brushes; to have the mounting means for the brushes freely movable to have the entire support and the brushes moved towards the panel to the operation of the brushes; and in general to provide a method and means for stretching and securing the edges of the trim material over a panel, which is simple in construction, positive in operation, and economical in manufacture.

Other objects and features of novelty of my invention will be specifically pointed'out, or will become apparent when referring, for a better understanding of my invention, to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a machine embodying features of my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view, partly in section, with portions broken away, showing the driven portion of the machine illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a panel after the trim material has been applied thereto by the machine illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1, taken on the line 4-4 thereof;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view, with parts shown in dot-and-dash line, of structure illustrated in Fig.

2, taken on. the line 55 thereof;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view, with parts shown in dot-and-dash line, of structure illustrated in Fig. 2, taken on the line 6-6 thereof;

Fig. '7 is a sectional view, with parts shown in dot-and-dash line, of structure illustrated in Fig. 2, taken on the line 1'! thereof; and

Fig. 8 is a view of a complete panel, at least some of the edges of which are secured by the device illustrated in the foregoing figures.

In Figure l I have illustrated spaced uprights l I and I2, which support a platform [3. A pair of projections l4 and I 5 extend from the uprights II and I2, respectively, in a direction opposite to that of the platform l3. A pair of links I6 and I! are pivoted on arms I8, disposed interjacent their ends, to the projections l4 and IE on the uprights H and [2. The lower ends of the links l6 and I! are provided with projecting pivots I9 which support the swinging platform 2| on which a motor 22 is mounted. Preferably the motor may be adjusted relative to the platform to regulate the stress on a belt 23 which is driven thereby.

The upper ends of the links [5 and I! are shaped to form yokes 24 on the ends of which a plate 25 is pivotally mounted. Plate 25 is provided with a central hub 26, in which a shank 21, ex-

tending from pillar 28, is mounted. The shank 21' is adjusted longitudinally of the hub 26 by a threaded stud 29 operated by hand wheel 3|. The position of pillar 28 and the device supported thereby is adjusted in the manner relative to the plate 25. A clamping handle 32 may be employed to lock the shank 21 relative to the hub.

Upon the top of the pillar 28, a housing 33 is disposed having a cover 34, which is secured thereto by suitable securing elements 35. Bearings are provided in the cover 34 and in the wall of the housing 35 for supporting a plurality of shafts 36, 31, and 38. Sprocket Wheels 39, 4|, and 43 are keyed or otherwise secured, respectively, to the shafts 36, 31, and 38. A flexible belt 44, preferably of the link chain type, is meshed with the sprocket wheels 39, 4| and 43, in a positive manner to drive all of the brushes in the same direction. The teeth of the belt are also in mesh with the teeth on the idling sprockets 45 and 46, while the opposite surface extends over rollers 41 and 48. The sprocket wheel 45 is carried by an arm 49 which is pivoted on the shaft 52 of the roller 48. Adjustment is provided to the arm 49 through the spring 53 and the adjusting screw 54. Through the adjustment of the tension on the spring 53, the belt 44 is maintained under the proper degree of tension. The shaft 36 is provided with apulley 55, as illustrated more clearly in Figure 1, connected by the belt 23 to a pulley 51 disposed on the shaft of the motor 2|. A suitable cover 58 encloses the driving element just described for the brushes.

A guiding shoe 59 is mounted on the housing 33 disposed adjacent to the brushes 10, H, 12, 13 in a position to support the edge of the backing element as it is passed therebetween. The guide is provided with a stud 5| on its under-side which is secured in a sleeve 62 of the housing 33 in a position to be adjusted vertically to regulate the position of the top surface of the guide shoe relative to the brush edges. In this manner, irrespective of the distance that the brushes may swing from the table [3, the edge of the backing element, about which a material is to be secured, will be supported directly adjacent to the brushes to prevent it from being deflected thereby.

In Fig. 8, I have illustrated, as an example, one element which may be operated upon by my device and method. This comprises a cardboard backing element 64 upon which 2. padding material 65 of fiber has been disposed and over which a finishing material 69 is to be secured. The material 65 may be cloth, fabric, leather, leatherette or the like. The material 65 is preferably secured first at its top edges at 61 by means not illustrated herein, after which the side edges 68 are bent under and secured in position by the device and method above described.

The securing of the sides 68 is effected by the operation of the brushes as illustrated in Figs. 5, 6, and '7. The shaft 31 is provided with two spaced brushes l0 and ll which are employed primarily for drawing the material 66 toward the edge of the cardboard 64. The shaft 38 carries and drives a brush 12 which is disposed between the brushes l0 and H in a position to engage the end of the cardboard 64. As the material advances laterally across the brushes on the guide plate 59, the brush 10, as illustrated in Fig. 5, draws the material 66 toward the end of the cardboard, after which the brush 12, as illustrated in Fig. 6, deflects the edges of the material 65 downwardly over the edge of the cardboard 64. Thereafter the material advances into engagement with the brush "H and with an aligned brush i3 driven by the shaft 36 which causes the edge of the material 66 to be swept under and secured to the adhesive material provided on the underside of the cardboard 64. The brush H is available to retain the material stretched across the top surface of the cardboard.

To stretch the fabric material 55 across the surface of the backing element 64 and secure it to the under surface thereof, it is only necessary to apply an adhesive to the under edge, in any desirable manner, and have the padding material 65 placed on the top of the surface of the backing element over which the fabric material is laid. The material so assembled is placed upon the table IS with the edge resting upon the guide plate 59. The edge is disposed to be engaged by the brush 19 as the assembly is advanced laterally thereacross. Because of the tendency of the brush '19 to draw the material across the backing element 64, the entire device will swing and thereby adjust itself relative to the edge. If the board is not advanced sufficiently into the brushes, the tendency of the device will be to draw the assembly into desired position or the device toward the assembly until such position is reached. If the assembly is advanced too near the brush, the device will swing away from the table l3 to desired position. As the edge of the. assembly is advanced laterally across the brushes, the brush ID will draw the material taut across the backing element. The brush '2 will deflect the material over the edge while the brush 13 will sweep the material across the under edge of the backing element against the adhesive material provided thereon. The brush H1 is available to retain the material taut across the surface. It was found in practice that this method accurately secures the trim material in a very rapid manner over the backing element. It is within the purview of my invention to employ two such devices on opposite sides of the table l3 adjustable relative to each other to have both edges of the material 63 secured to the side edges of the backing element 64 during asingle passage of the device across the table l3. The swinging of the device permits the automatic adjustment of the brushes relative to the edges of the cardboard so that a curved edge, such as that illustrated at 15 in Fig. 8, may be secured as readily as a straight side. Such advancement may occur by manually moving the assembly or moving it by conveying belts or other means.

While I have described and illustrated but a single embodiment of my invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes, omissions, additions and substitutions may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, as set forth in the accompanying claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a device for securing a trim material to a backing element including, in combination, a rotary brush for drawing the material taut across the surface of the backing element, means for deflecting the protruding edge of the material when so drawn, over the edge of the element, and rotary means for further deflecting the deflected material across the under surface of the backing element.

2. In a device for securing a trim material to a backing element including, in combination, rotary means for drawing the material taut across the surface of the backing element, means for deflecting the protruding edge of the material when so drawn, over the edge of the element, and means for urging the deflected material against the under surface of the backing element.

3. In a device for securing a trim material to a backing element including, in combination, a rotary element for drawing the material taut across the surface of the backing element, and means for deflecting the edge of the material when so drawn, across the under surface of the backing element.

4. In a device for securing a cover material to the glued under-side of a backing element which includes, in combination, a rotatable element adapted to engage and tension the material across the surface of the backing element to have the edge project beyond the element, and means for deflecting and securing the projecting edge of the material to the glued under-side of the backing element.

5, In a device for securing a cover material to a glued edge of a backing element which includes, in combination, rotatable means for drawing the material across the unglued surface of the element, rotatable means for deflecting the projecting edge of the material over the edge of the element, and rotatable means for further deflecting and effecting securement of the deflected material to the adhesive material on the under surface of the backing member.

6. In a device for securing a cover material to a backing element which includes, in combination, a rotatable brush for drawing the material across the surface of the backing element, a brush adjacent thereto for deflecting the projecting end of the material over the edge of the element,. and an additional brush for folding the deflected end across the under surface of the backing element.

7. In a device for securing a cover material over the surface of a backing element which includes, in combination, a plurality of brushes mounted for rotation and positioned relative to each other to fold the edge of the material about the edge of the element, and means for mounting said device for movement normal to the edge to be folded.

8. In a device for securing a cover material to a backing element which includes, in combination, a rotatable brush for drawing the material across the surface of the backing element, a brush adjacent thereto for deflecting the projecting end of the material over the edge of the element, and additional brush for folding the deflected end across the under surface of the backing element, said folding occurring progressively as the material and element are advanced normal to the plane of rotation of the brush, and means for supporting said brushes for free movement normal to the path of advancement of said element.

. ALFRED H. HABERSTUMP. 

